Duck tales: The tastiest way to survive winter in Hanoi

When you were young, you probably found yourself watching and falling in love with Donald, Disney’s world-famous duck. As you grew, your love for duck was no less, but it transformed into being all about the flavor. Winter in Hanoi is no wonderland. There is no snow or Christmas magic, just the biting wind and numbing drizzle that thrust through your helpless coat. Grinding your way through the crazy traffic while slowly dying on your motorbike just to get home after a horrendous day at work, your sense of existence is as low as the zombies in “The Walking Dead”. At that moment, more than anything, you know that only duck can save the day. You neatly sit yourself down in a small restaurant after shoving your bike onto the crowded pavement. The humble owner greets you with a big smile as she chops juicy-looking duck meat without stopping. Tell your friends to skip dinner and come over, because you’ve just realized you’ve found duck heaven. You might be familiar with the famous roasted Peking Duck from China or Duck a l’Orange from France, but in Vietnam, duck can be prepared in many different ways. Neck, blood curd and legs are often cooked with bamboo shoots to become vit nau mang (duck bamboo shoot soup), while the rest of the duck is grilled to become vit nuong (grilled duck) or turned into chao vit (duck congee). Duck, compared to chicken, is a lot tastier on its own. The meat itself… [Read full story]